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The Mercedes-Benz 'Cloaking Device'
cold fjord writes "As part of its marketing campaign for the new hydrogen fuel cell powered F-Cell, Mercedes-Benz has equipped one with a cloaking device. They covered one side of an F-Cell with LEDs and used cameras on the other side to capture the view, which is then displayed on the LEDs to effectively remove the vehicle from the line of sight."
The insurance must be very high.
Luxury cars are cloaked too - which is why it looks like I drive an old minivan
Until our electricity comes from renewable sources hydrogen power is worse than fossil fuels. Not to mention the energy wasted in the production of their LEDs and making of the commercial to market a wasteful and impractical product.
Officer: So, what caused you to get into an accident?
Driver: Well, you see there was this invisible car...
not perfect, but cool
It is no good until I can install it on my Bird of Prey.....
sign hear Mr bond
If I had one I would hack it to make it look like a running Alien.
If my comment didn't sound as good in your head as it did in mine, then I guess we all know who's to blame
A proper cloaking device isn't just a flat image of the surroundings; it would need to be holographic so it would look right from any angle.
I would call this "adaptive camouflage", and it's doing a damned good job at that.
Umm... except that electricity does partially come from renewable sources, just not all of it. As opposed to conventional IC engines, which run off of 100% non-renewable dino-waste.
y subject lines lead directly into the text of my posts.
I want one.
Who made the hydrogen for the fuel cell? Underpants gnomes?
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Yeah those folks asked "how hard can it be" and pulled it off before fancy dancy German Engineers.
"I see" said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw.
Bitten Apples are still better than dirty Windows...
Until our electricity comes from renewable sources hydrogen power is worse than fossil fuels.
I don't think it is quite that simple. Hydrogen moves the pollution from many mobile sources, cars, to a very small number of non-mobile sources, power generation stations. With all pollution coming from these stations there is the opportunity for remediation, capturing the pollution to prevent its entry into the environment. Doing so is expensive and technically challenging but plausible.
I may be wrong, but I'm sensing that you may not particularly like this car.
That may just be me reading too much between your lines though, I tend to do this sometimes.
Sorry if I misunderstood you.
Bitten Apples are still better than dirty Windows...
Just what I want - a Merc that people can't see in the parking lot.
OTOH, I guess scratches wouldn't matter so much on an invisible car.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I'd like to see that claim explained please. Is it powered by cold fusion?
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Agreed, their small cars are ugly as sin. They are like a Hyundai with a big fat Benz emblem on the front and a cool grill.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
I don't think it is quite that simple. Hydrogen moves the pollution from many mobile sources, cars, to a very small number of non-mobile sources, power generation stations.
You know what also does that? Electric cars. And without the extra, extremely inefficient electrolysis step.
Electric: Dinosaurs -> Electricity -> Vroom
Fuel Cell: Dinosaurs -> Electricity -> Hydrogen -> Vroom
Not to mention that either you need to solve for long-term storage and transportation of hydrogen (if you produce it centrally) or produce it in-situ, and lose out on a good chunk of the efficiencies of centralisation you hope to gain.
Fuel cells (and the "hydrogen economy" in general) are bunk
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Ok, yeah, that's cool, but what you really need is an airship covered with light emitting diodes across one side because then you could have...
...wait for it...
...a LED Zeppelin!
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
I'm all for electric cars, but do you really think it's any easier to solve the "how do you recharge an electric car in the amount of time it takes to refuel a fossil fuel powered car?" problem than the "long-term storage and transportation of hydrogen" problem?
Samizdat sees the Internet as damage and routes around it.
Two blind kids see saws.
And in infra-red, too!
Don't get run over by the invisible tank. Hopefully they haven't made a hybrid (they probably have).
Ba-dum-dum
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
No, which is why I'd go for the stop-and-swap model. With standardization and large scale adoption, you should be able to get to a point where you drive in, engage the mechanism, and drive out again with a new battery, in around the same timeframe it takes to pump a tankfull now.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
I've wanted to do this since I was a kid! Awesome! Sometimes it takes someone with a big budget and reason to waste it to do something cool like this. Can I buy one of these, but hold the car?
What's the pointing of cloaking cars? It would make sense for military, but for average drivers? :P
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
this thing is zero emissions. it doesn't bleed. we can't kill it.
and this year it grows hot...
There was an episode of the X-files where some guy finds a genie, and he wishes for the power to turn invisible. He promptly goes outside with his new power, and gets hit by a truck.
I can picture a similar situation happening here.
I don't think it is quite that simple. Hydrogen moves the pollution from many mobile sources, cars, to a very small number of non-mobile sources, power generation stations.
You know what also does that? Electric cars. And without the extra, extremely inefficient electrolysis step.
Again, it is not that simple. You forgot about the batteries. Import lithium from distant lands, manufacture batteries, use batteries, recycle/dispose of batteries in the proper manner, by expensive new batteries, ...
Now ad downtime for charging.
All electric is not a panacea. It has its own set of issues and requires some technical advances.
Hydrogen has an advantage in that it reuses existing internal combustion technology. Minor modifications plus greater power output. Its issues are more infrastructure related. Of course all electric will need new infrastructure as well, chargers in parking lots, etc
While this is a cool gag, didn't they get the memo that hydrogen is inefficient compared to batteries and that methane is much easier/cheaper to work with if you really want to run fuel cells?
It probably took them a couple of years to get hydrogen to work, at least in a small car. I guess we'll hear as much about it as of the hydrogen BWM 7-series.
thegodmovie.com - watch it
Pedestrians... should cross the road when they don't see a an amorphous Predator rippling effect approaching.
No, which is why I'd go for the stop-and-swap model. With standardization and large scale adoption, you should be able to get to a point where you drive in, engage the mechanism, and drive out again with a new battery, in around the same timeframe it takes to pump a tankfull now.
The Chevy Volt has a battery pack weighing over 400 pounds and it is a hybrid, not an all electric. The 400+ lb battery pack gets you 50 miles.
The all electric Nissan Leaf has a batter pack weighing over 600 pounds and it gets you 73 miles.
This is not self serve, this is get in line for the fork lift stuff.
1) Attach one tablet to your stomach and one to your back.
2) Open up a camera chat between them.
3) Put on a T-shirt with one bloody hole on the front, and one on the back, directly over the tablets.
4) It looks like someone shot a hole through you!
5) No profit, but plenty of laughs.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
No, which is why I'd go for the stop-and-swap model. With standardization and large scale adoption, you should be able to get to a point where you drive in, engage the mechanism, and drive out again with a new battery, in around the same timeframe it takes to pump a tankfull now.
I'm a little short on cash right now, so I'll take half a battery.
Which is why I said "engage the mechanism", not "haul it out, and slot the new one in". Once there's enough cars on the road to justify it, you can do much better than a forklift.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
2 words for ya:
Transmission Losses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_production
5% of H2 is produced with electrolysis.
Thus it is more Dinosaurs -> Hydrogen -> Vroom.
The car has no emissions but you're still paying for the resources that go into the fuel cells (manufacture, transportation) plus the efficiency of the fuel cells themselves which isn't much more efficient than diesel, which in the end makes absolutely no sense on a giant fucking luxury executive car (but would on the other hand for, say, a sports car or subcompact). Long story short: get the diesel model & pour SVO into it if you're going to be picky, but save the beta-stage energy storage mediums for the real cars, not the fucking land-ships.
Can't be bothered with BS like this. Do you realize who may be in control of internet policy a year from now?
Who? The Bavarian Illuminati?
How is it able to capture or reflect the people looking at the car if the cameras are mounted on the other side (the uncovered side)? I wasn't really able to see much (probably intentionally shown as a glance) of the rig, but I think I saw a girl pass by behind the gear.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
yeah, well my posts
That only happens if you engage the clutch.
---jstlook ---For that is the way of Elves, for they say both yes AND no, and mean every word of it. --- J.R.R.T.
A half charged battery? Sure. You must be really short if you can't afford another $5 for a full one though.
404: sig not found.
When will this hit the market I think we all need to know when to stop carrying weapons so they won't run us over for sport.
1. Cover Yaris with LEDs.
2. Project image of Maserati on LEDs.
3. Pick up chicks.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Even better hydrogen generation can be done where there is vast quantity of renewable resources. I'm not an energy expert, but in my imagination I see use harnessing energy from wave currents and using it to generate hydrogen, fill blimps and ship hydrogen to places that need power. And also there are a lot of islands that are geothermal hotspots with access to lots of volcanic energy and ocean water.
My vision is Renewable->Electricity+Water->Hydrogen->Hydrogen blimp fuel Transportation network->Electricity and Vroom!
Coal power is awful, but there is no reason we couldn't use the existing petroleum style of distribution to move hydrogen (although blimps are more fun than Exxon Valdez!)
On the other hand, I don't know why they don't put their star on the front of the Smart (which is a joint venture between Daimler-Benz and Swatch, of all things). They'd instantly sell zillions of them in crowded Asian cities like Singapore, whose people are obsessed with the Mercedes brand, but whose small size, crowded streets, and astonishingly high import duties and engine size-dependent road taxes make it less than an ideal place in which to own, say, a big S-Class.
That is the most thought provoking, interesting, and informative comment I have ever read. My dearest and sincerest hopes and dreams have been fulfilled as I now have someone to look up to. I could never do justice to the debt of gratitude I now owe you.
No no no, ponies and rainbows -> hydrogen -> happiness
but really,m hydrogen is made by stripping the hydrogen off hydrocarbons.
Fuel Cell: Dinosaur+Steam -> Hydrogen -> Vroom.
(although blimps are more fun than Exxon Valdez!)
Oh, the humanity!
Cpt. Picard: "This is Captain Picard of the U.S.S. Minivan. Stardate 1231.4. Our voyage to the Walmart parking lot has thus far been uneventful. According to our orders, we are to rendevouz with Federation shoppers at--"
[Explosion. Ships rocks violently.]
Cmdr Riker: "Romulan Beemah decloaking off the starboard bow! ALL HANDS BATTLE STATIONS!"
LOL. Imagine all cars become invisible.... And you want to reduce the accident rate? BAD GAG.
Why not an advertising campaign based on alcohol? after all it's not worse in terms of safety.....
With alchool based fuel car, you can drive and drink at the same time... BAD GAG.
Can't they be more imaginative?
Using something like Hitfilm Ultimate.
Seriously, I don't believe this is real.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
Hydrogen moves the pollution from many mobile sources, cars, to a very small number of non-mobile sources, power generation stations.
In theory you're right. Unfortunately most of our hydrogen is made from natural gas using an energy-intensive process and what's more, we don't even halt this process during the day and just run it on wasted base load at night, it's just a steady industrial consumer like anything else. If we were using squandered load from power stations to make hydrogen at night we'd get it essentially for free, aside from occasionally making some new carbon electrodes. To make them last as long as possible you want to distill the input water with some kind of waste heat.
However, we are set up to do basically none of this, so all hydrogen use is a boondoggle.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Who knew Germans could smile so much? They seem almost like real people.
I agree with you on hydrogen but battery swapping is stupid. The latest electric cars can already do a half-hour quick charge to 80%, and they already have more range than the average American's driving distance so pretty soon overnight charging will be all you need.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
That's true if the car has a hydrogen-powered ICE, but if it's a fuel cell vehicle it's still Dinosaurs -> Hydrogen -> Electric -> Vroom
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Some first-gen Smarts did have the Mercedes star, but I guess they spun it off into a separate company for a reason (not sure what it is though).
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
in the subject box! fucking seriously!
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
The latest electric cars can already do a half-hour quick charge to 80%
Not good enough
Disable cloaking device too.
Power generator to drive chain, an electric car converts 69% of the energy to motion.
Hydrogen: just over 30%, the last time I looked.
When you're running short of (easy) energy, electric wins hands down. Secondly, there is a lot of competition out there on electricity-generating methods: coal, oil, wind, nuclear, solar ... just about everybody is getting into the Electricity business.
Hydrogen, OTOH, has the advantage that it looks like oil, if you're in the oil business: swap petrol for hydrogen gas, you still have gas stations, you still have thousands of miles of pipes to install. If you're Exxon, you'll like hydrogen, but Electricity is a different kettle of fish: other utilities already have that transmission bit sewn up.
Reusing internal combustion technology is irrelevant in this bigger picture.
Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist
1. Strip naked
2. Cover all your body EXCEPT your midriff with LED pads
3. Attach video cameras to your back.
4. Go to party as a floating cock.
Whoops, your old battery appears to be out-of-life and needs replacement.
That would be $2000 and you'll also need to pay another $500 for disposing of hazardous chemicals.
You'd be arrested driving this car because you would be recording police work without their permission.
Muslims!!!
Power generator to drive chain, an electric car converts 69% of the energy to motion. Hydrogen: just over 30%, the last time I looked.
Apologies for not being clear. I was comparing Hydrogen to Gasoline, only minor modifications to the internal combustion engine are needed and there is a 20%'ish improvement in power output.
Reusing internal combustion technology is irrelevant in this bigger picture.
You phrased that incorrectly. All electric is the long term. But there may be decades before such solutions are practical. In the short term the internal combustion engine using hydrogen, natural gas, etc is a practical solution to get us through the decades of R&D that are ahead of us.
Betting it all on electric essentially forces us to continue to be dependent upon foreign oil for the foreseeable future. We are already past peak oil production. We need something that can be available in years, not decades, and that uses proven technology, not something waiting for technological breakthroughs. Those breakthroughs will eventually occur but they will probably not occur on the timetable that we need.
Living in a city causes a fair bit of damage to one's lungs due to the urban air pollution. I'd love if vehicle exhaust was merely water vapor. Also, I expect a single large, stationary powerplant can have far better pollution controls than thousands of relatively inexpensive and mobile vehicles. Furthermore, a powerplant can be located where its pollution will have the least impact on humans and the natural environment.
Doesn't work, I can't even see the car!
but there is no reason we couldn't use the existing petroleum style of distribution to move hydrogen
Yes, yes there is. Petroleum is a liquid at normal temperature and pressure; hydrogen's a gas, and a particularly pernicious one to store and transport. I just don't know why you want to whack an extra step in there, with all the inefficiencies that adds, just so you can use your car to turn chemical energy into motion, instead of turning electrical energy into motion.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Yeah, but that sorta gets around (one of) the cool points about centralization. If you upgrade the coal plant to a nuke or renewable plant, suddenly all your electric cars become nuke/renewable powered. If you're generating hydrogen through hydrocarbon reforming, you're basically stuck with a fossil fuel source. If you want to go renewable, you introduce an extra Renewable -> Electricity -> Hydrogen conversion in there.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Oh please the worst battery price to car price relationship was the 1st-gen Prius, and the battery was less than half the cost of the car.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Yet you replied in the subject box as well, you ill-educated cretin.
Looks like the lower UID cabal of /. has started getting Alzheimer's.
Bet you couldn't logic your way out of a wet paper bag.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
No, transmissions have a TON of internal energy loss. This is why a lot of electric-converted vehicles have the transmissions *removed*!
Right, because all those care idling during rush hour (95% of a lot of car's use) sure are being efficient. Not to mention that gasoline engines are around 20% efficient in NEW cars. Then remember that electric cars, no matter what their source is DO NOT IDLE.
Then remember that electric cars, no matter what their source is DO NOT IDLE.
Then remember that we're talking about hydrogen, not necessarily EVs. And even if they are hydrogen EVs, fuel cells have all kinds of their own problems. They have an optimal temperature which is high, for example, and which must be maintained. They are energy-intensive to produce, much as batteries are. Hydrogen fueling infrastructure doesn't exist, just as EV charging infrastructure doesn't exist. And so on.
New cars may have gasoline engines over 35% efficient, if they are small and direct-injected.
Electric cars don't idle, but in cold weather they lose efficiency and range as they cool down due to battery chemistry or fuel cell design. And practical hydrogen fuel cell vehicles always seem to be perpetually 10 years away.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Just once, I want to hear about something that really exists that has a self destruct system. Button. Whatever.
I'd also like to see, well, there are not new Star Trek shows right not, some show where they start the auto-destruct sequence, but solve the problem and turn it off with, say, 15 minutes to spare instead of the usual 1.3 seconds.
sorry for double-reply but I realized another reason your comment is really stupid. Modern Direct-injected gasoline engines can hold compression and start without the starter because they have full injection control and they know where the crank is.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I really wish we could do this with the Nissan Juke. And some people I know.
So several times over the life of the vehicle purchasing a new $20,000 battery is fine with you? Are you mentally ill?
woosh?
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
That's too rich for my blood but the batteries will be cheaper in the future. Today's average electric car batteries run about $10k.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I didn't mention anything about starting the engine. I was talking about the engine doing a near idle as you move 5km/h down the highway for a half hour.
It doesn't work that way. We call it "stop and go" traffic because it stops and goes.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
You've never been in our rush hour then...